Willow

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar was sure that this weekend was a brightstone weekend. although she hadn't heard specifically from any of her contacts in the school she was sure it was aways the last weekend in october. it was early in the morning when she packed a bag of every thing she would need for the day. she was no stranger for packing supplies in a bag. she always had done but with Willow things got much more complex. after a couple of months she had things pretty much organised. she finally put willow into her sling and then apparated to the village. Dederick had been on a low ever since she had brought Willow home. she knew it was just who he was, his bipolar. the surprise and shock had set it on a spiral. she now tried to give him some space, and enable him to do what he wanted. she was a least glad to see he was still going to the healers in london. generally he stayed in london where she preferred their home in Australia.
she arrived to Brightstone. and reappeared on the edge of the park, she hoped that she would be able to find her brother as he hadn't seen willow, or one of her clients as she unfortunately wad been on maternity leave when they had visited her office. she headed over to the three broomsticks where she had a good breakfast before walking down the high street to a bench overlooking the park, a bench that was also visible to most people leaving the castle. she put a blanket over herself so that she could feed willow without people looking at her funny, something she had learned very quickly, as her daughter fed she watched a couple of birds flying into and out of a tree making a nest. it didn't take long for willow to fill. although she had an appetite she fed often. Briar straightened her baggy wolf t-shirt and put the blanket away giving her daughter a hug as students started to leave the castle.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas was crossing the busy roads in the middle of Brightstone Village clearly lost in thoughts. His eyes were reflecting scatter thoughts and a walk was always his first choice in order to try and arrange them in some way. Around 6.3 feet tall and not really bothering to shave his facial hair, he was no longer reminding the reckless boy sneaking into the forest in search of adventure. Winter holidays had an effect on him, transforming him from a clumsy cub to a proud lion year by year. Proud but lone for he had chosen a lonely mode of existence ever since he had returned back at school from holidays. It wasn't a return he wanted but rather a return he had to accept and forbear for a couple more years. His near future goal was N.E.W.Ts but until then he had enough spare time to dedicate to his favourite art of spell crafting and prepare for the time after his graduation. What he was planning to do by then was a jealously, guarded secret. The people knowing about it could be counted on the fingers of one hand and still Minoas was keeping from them a few details for their own good. After these holidays he had come to understand that too much information could cost your life and had narrowed escaped that cost.

Today he just wanted sometime with his enigmatic consciousness. He was also searching for inspiration for his next spell he was going to craft and watching people on their daily activities were always providing him with something good. The park was usually bursting with energy and life as children were playing carefree. It was remarkable how their innocence and imagination could inspire him, like those little boys the other days who were playing aurors vs death eaters resulting him to come up with his recent energy storing spell. It was his favourite so far and he was hoping he was going to get just another brilliant idea today. As he was searching for a vacant bench to have a seat, he recognized something familiar on a woman sitting alone. He could recognize those ginger hair anywhere.
"The she-wolf of Wagga Wagga in a park?" he questioned. It wasn't the kind of place he had used to see Briar.
"Don't tell me you started spending your full moon nights baking cookies." he jested as he approached her from behind, not able to see what was occupying her embrace.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar was watching the brids intently she must had been too distracted from where she was really watching to see someone approching her from behind. it wasn't. she held willow ricking her as she started to fall asleep and wondered why she didnt sleep at night but could sleep so much in the day. it was only when she heared a familar voice that she turned around. behind her was a man. it took her a moment from her sleep deprived state of mind to recognise him. "Min? wow you have really grown" she said and she didn't just mean taller even now he did now tower over her but he looked older too. "I was actually here as i thought it would be a brightstone weekend" she said. standing up and walking the short distance to him. "Cookies. No way. I have had enough sweet stuff over the past few months Call me mad, but currently full moons are the only night i get a good nights sleep." she said. hopeing that minoas had gotten the note that she had sent him on the 11th August.
the movement of getting up had brought Willow back from the brink of sleep thankfully she wasnt crying, but briar calmed her slightly. "how was your holiday? and how is your sixth year going?" he asked waiting for him to answer before changing the conversation. "let me introduce you to your niece properly. Willow Luna Cullen" she said smiling at her daughter who's blue green eyes looked back ant then towards minoas before looking at minoas herself. hopeing that he had got her note and this wasn't a massive shock to him.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

It was hard to prevent a smile from stretching on your features when reuniting with loved ones. Momentarily, he received flashbacks from the time when Briar used to train him for Quidditch tryouts. Then, when she stood up to come closer to him, what she had in her hands brought him back to the present. His features softened even more when those blue green eyes looked at him both innocently and curiously. He remembered the day he received Briar's owl, telling him he was know uncle to a healthy baby girl. He was too occupied with his own matters and he even forgot to send her an owl back with his wishes for the baby. Remembering this let theguilt creep in. "I know I'm inexcusable but I'm so sorry for not replying to your letters over the holidays. I was too busy with my own problems." he apologized for not being by her side when she needed him. He knew very well that Briar must have had a hard time accepting motherhood but she seemed to be doing fine.

He stooped just a little bit to greet the baby. "Poor Dederick. She took nothing from him. She's a mini you." he commented, his eyes darting from the baby to Briar, finding only similarities. "Hey Willow. This is uncle Minoas." his voice softened as well and his fingers went to pinch the baby's chubby cheeks when his index finger got trapped in Willow's tight grip. "She also took your strength and reflexes." he joked as he shook the baby's hand.
It took him a few moments to carefully release himself from Willow's grip but when he did so he regained his stature. It was rediculous to be towering over Briar. It would be hard for someone to believe that she had saved him from acromantulas' pincers a five years ago. "Let's have a seat. I guess we have a lot to catch up." he said and led her back to the bench she was sitting. He hadn't seen her ever since the festival and obviously she had a lot to talk about.

Sitting down next to her, he was still amazed by how small the baby was. Sure he had younger brothers but he couldn't quite remember how small the twins were when his mom returned back home with them. "It really suits you the role of the mother after all." he smiled as she looked natural with the baby in the sling.
"Holidays were good. Nothing interesting really." he answered casually. "I think sixth year is the best out of all. I have free time to work on my spells and relax of course before next year's N.E.W.T.s" he said thankful for the free time he had. "Animagi training is going good as well. You know, everything is running smoothly." he sounded genuine. "I bet there are more changes in your life. How's life with Willow?" he asked and his attention shifted back to the baby which was rubbing its eyes.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Although briar hadnt wanted the baby. she had only decided she had done when she had had her. this unfortunatly had been made harder by the fact that she had had to tell the adoptive mother. thankfully elvera had understood. as minoas went to pinch willows cheeks she had to laugh when she took a tight grasp on his fingers it seemed willow already didnt like hiving her cheeks pinched. not that she could blame her. "It doesn't matter about the letters. I thought that you must be on some adventure somewhere where you couldn't be found" she said. she had a slight hint that this was at least partially true as she had heard from a worried mrs Strati asking if minoas was with her. which seeing as he wasn't meant that he was elsewhere. "have you heard anything about your dad?" she asked lowering her voice slightly as she said it just incase there were people listening though there didn't seem to be.
she looked at willow again when minoas said that she looked nothing like Dederick. "do you think? I thought she looks quite a lot like him. she has his eyes and smile" she said she thought she was a lot like him other than the fact she had her colouring. she guessed time would tell as the young girl grew up. at the suggestion of sitting down she nodded. if minoas felt like sitting down she didn't mind. she sat back on the bench. "do you want to hold her for a bit" she asked. Willow often spent time with his aunt madlyn she had spent the whole night with her last full moon. so it only seemed fair that her uncle was allowed a hold or cuddle if he wanted to.
Once willow was comfortable again she spoke. "I wasn't actually expecting to be a mother. I planned on having her adopted, but then when she was born i decided i couldn't" she said.
when minoas said that sixth year was going well she smiled. she remembered this time when she was in her sixth year. she was feeling so bad she had just been bitten, didn't know who to tell her only salvation from the confusion was regular letters with dederick the guy who had bitten her. if anyone had suggested that in three years time she would be a mum, a werewolf rights activist (sort of), and using dedericks last name she would have sent them to the hospital wing believing them to have lost the plot. "something tells me that there was something interesting in your holiday." she said calling his bluff on that one right away. "and minoas Stratis and things running smoothly never seemed to be the sort of thing to work together. any idea yet on" she said. not really hinting for him to say more. just letting him know that she knew there was more going on. "any idea what animal you will be turning into yet?" she asked. she had space on her shoulder for a tattoo of the animal once he had worked it out. she had got quite a variety of tattoos on her back and feet. he most recent one she had got though was in neither of these places it was around her right wrist and was a miniature willow branch wrapping around like a bracelet, it was also the only tattoo which was realistic not black and stylised, she really liked it. "things with willow are good. I am back at work so she spends most of the day with her grandparents or madlyn. she is awake half the night so sleep is a bit of a luxury only achieved during full moons" she said. it was odd really that the one night a month that used to be hell. the night that was. "the problem is that Dederick is on a low, so that takes a lot of strain, but Iris, madlyn and Emily, Dedericks mum, are being great" she said. not wanting to bring things down but a lack of sleep was making it even harder for her to filter out what she should and shouldn't say than usual. "your brothers have started school right? how are they finding it? any swamps sprung up n the common room yet?" she said joking. she remembered minoas once said that they had turned the house into a giant swamp but that was when hey were much younger.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

The fact that Briar had thought he had been on some kind of adventure was so unexpected that left him baffled. His bemused expression was accompanied with thoughts of how she could have figured out about his trip to Malta. Not sure what exactly his sister knew, he decided not to say something and expose himself.
"The same. Aurors keep dropping by home to give my mother false hopes." he answered this one. It was a pretty straightforward question which he couldn't skip. "They say they are making some progress but I highly doubt it." he snorted, shaking his head. His opinion about the aurors hadn't changed a bit. They were as useless as always and they had contributed to his decision to not choose the profession of the auror.

He preferred to talk about Briar's new lifestyle and how her new life was going. Upon hearing Briar supporting Willow's resemblance to Dederick, Minoas had another look to make sure he wasn't wrong. "I can already see her with a Quaffle, scoring." he insisted but the time was going to show who was right in the end. Minoas hadn't held a baby before. She looked so fragile, he was afraid he might not be able to hold Willow properly.
"Umm, okay. Just show me how I should hold her." he said and tried to imitate the way Briar was holding her. The baby dwarfed even more from the moment it nested in his arms. It was warm like a fresh-baked roll of bread and it was smelling nice and milky. "I remember my mother saying she had no idea the trouble my brothers were when they arrived in this package of cuteness." he responded with a chuckle right after Briar's description of her new routine. If Willow was going to be like her mom, Briar was going to have a hard time searching for her runaway daughter in forests. "Despite almost burning our house down twice, she still has a soft spot for them." he added, letting her know that despite the difficulties she was probably going to face on later, she wasn't going to regret this.

The suspicion that Briar might knew something about his holidays' trip, came right back when she expressed her own suspicion about that matter. Minoas was just busy making faces at Willow who started gurgling and blowing bubbles in an attempt to mimic his expressions. He stop doing that when Briar asked him about his animagi form. "I've been having a strange dream lately. It's the same almost every time and it is really vivid. I'm always standing at the edge of a cliff, feeling the wind brushing my clothes, my hair, my skin and then I take a step to the void although I don't want to. I drop off the cliff into nothingness when an giant eagle appears and saves me, letting me fly with it on its back." recounted with a vague look in his eyes as if he was experiencing some kind of premonition like Professor Le Fey. "According to a book of animagus' recounts, some people get to see in their dreams what they are going to turn into but so far I haven't shed a single feather." he said but less disappointed as he used to be before. He knew the metamorphosis was going to come when his body was ready for it.

The grin on his face got bigger as Briar asked about his siblings and if Gryffindor's common room was the same as she had left it. "Honestly, I have no idea. I no longer stay in Gryffndor common room." he revealed, pretty sure he hadn't discussed with his sister his punishment for breaking into Professor Kingsley's office. "I'm surprised the castle is still standing in one piece and they have avoided up until know to visit Kingsley. Perseas was born a teaser and Theseas is quite short-tempered so they don't do well together." he explained why they tended to cause chaos around them. Perseas was provoking Theseas and Theseas was responding, falling in his brother's trap. Silence lingered for a while and Minoas lowered his gaze at Willow who started sucking her tiny fingers. His mind however was racing in an attempt to figure out what Briar knew about his holidays. In the end he broke his silence. Curiosity was always stronger than him. "How do you know there was something 'interesting' in my holidays?" he asked, deciding it was foolish avoiding talking about it when she already knew something.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar watched willow lying in hr uncles arms, she seemed to like him she was smiling up at him and blowing a sort of bubble that she hoped would stop in a few weeks and become the laughter it reminded her of. "sorry, but i have been so busy i have not hadchance to see if i can get any information form work either." she said. when my stratis had first gone missing briar had tired ot evesrop on the conversations of auroers in the cafiteria however now she had the perfect oppertunits as the tried ot have her lunch with lilith who was an auror she found conversation often circled around Willow and padme (who was almost exactly a year older than willow). and also Praneil and Dederick and about fifty other topics that werent work. "I hope something useful turnes up soon" she said. honestly she meant that she would do anything if it helped minoas find his dad, well she would have done. now things were a little more complicated with willow there requireing her atttention. she smiled then minoas said that he could see willow as a chaser going after the quaffle. "I hope so." she said. she hoped that her daughter would follow her love of the sport, not necesserily being a chaser, any position would be good. she nodded when he said his mum didnt know how much trouble the twins were going to be when she had them. she didnt mind if willow was a bit of a trouble maker. if she did she would have been a hypocrit, and hey, at least if she was a bit of a trouble make she was able to think for herself, and getting out of trouble was a good skill to have.
she listened as minoas recounted his dream glancing down at willow who was now examoning the souroundings now that minoas's face pulling entertainment had stopped. "So you think you will be an eagle." she said looking up at the sky as if expecting to see an eagle fly past when all there was were the same little birds still playing in the same tree as before. "sounds like an awesome animal to be able to surn into, you would be able to fly without wings. much better than some others. Imagine beign a stick insect or a worm" she said pulling her face. she had not heard of anyone being a stick incect though she had heard of someone being a beatle which was about as close. not that she knew much about animagi but she thought Minoas was too stronger person to be able to fit into being a stick insect, stick insects in her mind were much ler outgoing han her brother.
she looked back at willow who seemed to be starting to fall asleep again. before hearing what minoas was saying. "what do you mean you no longer go in the gryffindor commonroom?" she said a little shocked. "you're a gryffindor where else are you meant to spend the time between cerfiew and bed?" she said astounded sure she knew that minoas wasnt one to follow all the rules especially cerfew but being out every night was risky even for him. "sounds like quite a chaotic combination of brothers you have. kingsley will have her hands full for he next seven years by the sounds of it." she said. thinking about the things she never manaed to do in the castle. being head girl had put a sudden end of her free careless rule breaking days. she still broke rules, most common the no entering the forest rule, but had to do it smarter. she saw minoas's expression suddenly change and wondered what he had suddenly thought. it wasn't long before he asked her ow she knew about his holiday. she chuckled slightly "two ways. one i know you well enough after five years to know when you are lying and saying that nothing interesting happened on the holiday obviously meant that something did. also your mum flooed me at the start of the holidays asking if you were with me, or if i knew where you were. both of which i had to say no to." she explained.